[Scenario seed] Merlin - a different take.

[Catsmate]

Merlin — A very spooky take (by Doug McArthur) on a traditionally heroic character. Just who is the bad guy here?
YouTube and MP3 versions by Kathy Mar; lyrics.

It's not so dark in the cave tonight
Just over here there's a crack of light
Tomorrow is the day

Escape is near...

I heard the voices coming through the wall
They're digging for a brand new shopping mall
Just knocked off for the day

It’s not just archaeologists that can unearth Something Nasty that’s been long buried in the depths of the Earth. Though it’s not a ‘mall’ in the UK, more likely a ‘shopping centre’.

It's late at night and the stars are deep
I'm okay, I don't need sleep
I've been sleeping for quite some time.

Just how long has s/he been ‘sleeping’? Who put him there? Why? How? And just who is he (or she)? Is s/he still sane? Was s/he ever?

They call me names I never understood
I am the spirit of the wind and the wood
I am the name in the writing on the wall

Someone with unusual powers then. Possessed/influenced by an alien or alien device (the somewhat hackneyed fob watch?) or gifted with psionic or other powers maybe.

I don't know when and I don't know how
But I do know I'm much stronger now
And I wouldn't have woke if I hadn't heard you call

Gaining strength and regenerating from the injuries inflicted over the centuries. I wonder where s/he picked up that ability? Alien nanotech perhaps?

• Or shades of Jack Harkness.
  

I remember the day they put me here
The workmen wrapped in masks of fear
Slowly rolling in the stone

Did they have good reason for such fear?

They nailed my hands to a Rowan tree
They burned my body and they blinded me
And buried me here alone

Rowan is a traditional protective material, originally the wayfarer’s tree that could protect against bainful magic, though some druids link it to entering other worlds.

• It might be interesting to have an NPC (or even PC) named Rowan, Ruadh or Ó Ruadháin. A police officer perhaps?

Arthur kissed my bloodied eyes
Said "You will live and we will die
But you will harm nobody here"

Just what harm had Merlin (or Merlyn or Myrddin or Merdinus or Merlina or Meryla or Merle or Muirgheal) wrought on others? Physical, mental, spiritual?
Arthur (or Artorius, the bear-man-king) seems to have known that he couldn’t kill Merlin and that eventually his precautions would fail.

• Interestingly in the earliest legends Myrddin is a prophetic madman who lives in the Caledonian Forest. Perhaps S/he knew too much and spoke the truth to the wrong people?

Over his shoulder, high on the hill
I see her laughing, waiting still
The lovely Guinevere

Ah, Guinevere (or Jennifer). Not always portrayed positively, it depends on who version of the legends (on the Geoffrey of Monmouth to Chrétien de Troyes spectrum) you accept; fatally flawed female archetype; opportunistic, adulterous schemer or villainous traitor.

Arthur cursed when he saw my smile
The sun went dark and the wind went wild
He put me in this place

So Merlin was confident that s/he would survive. Interesting. And a burst of odd weather, was Merlin discharging something, the better to go dormant?

For years I've slept in this holy park
Slowly healing in the dark
I can hardly wait to see that workman's face

A somewhat malicious joy in the fear and surprise. I wonder what will happen to the man? And to everyone else…



Suggestions? Ideas? Comments?